The second United Nations personalized sheet was something unexpected, and caused quite a sensation among collectors and in the philatelic press. Only 1,000 sheets were prepared for the Hong Kong Stamp Expo which took place from 30 January to 3 February 2004, and they quickly sold out. Charges of creating an artificial rarity were leveled against UNPA by many collectors and writers.
The sheet was not considered a separate entity by UNPA, because the stamps, Scott 853-857, had not changed. Only the selvage and labels changed. Scott does not list the sheets separately when only the selvage (or labels) have changes, because they publish a stamp catalog - not a selvage catalog. UNPA felt it did not create any stamp rarities and the Hong Kong Stamp Expo show souvenirs, these personalizes sheets, were comparable to other show souvenirs, such as the White and Blue cards that were frequently available at European shows.
Many collectors found this not to their liking, and since this was an official UNPA release, they began looking for the sheets. Very quickly the sheets reached a price of $150, before settling into the $125 range. I am not sure of the exact date of sell out, but presumably it was on or just before 3 February 2004.
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